University of Birmingham Experts Publish Oxford Handbooks

Three new or forthcoming Oxford Handbooks feature the work of academics in Biblical Studies from Birmingham’s Department of Theology and Religion.

The Oxford Handbook of the Latin Bible is edited by Hugh Houghton, Professor of New Testament Textual Scholarship and Director of Birmingham’s Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing (ITSEE). It features thirty-one chapters covering the history of the Latin Bible from its origins to the preparation of a new Latin translation for the use of the Roman Catholic Church in recent decades. There are also chapters on the role of the Latin Bible in music, worship, and art history and its influence on language. The contributors include some of the most distinguished names in the field, from across the world. In addition to Professor Houghton’s own chapters on the earliest translations and Latin in multilingual manuscripts, there are further Birmingham contributions from Dr Oliver Norris, who provides the chapter on the Latin Psalter, and Prof. Christina Kreinecker, an associate member of ITSEE, on Jerome and the Vulgate Gospels. The introduction to the volume is freely available online.

Also published today is the Oxford Handbook of the Synoptic Gospels. Among its thirty contributors are two more Birmingham academics. Candida Moss, the Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology, has written the chapter on “Suffering and Sacrifice”, and Dr Karen Wenell, Associate Professor in New Testament and Theology, contributes a chapter on “Sacred Space”.

A third Oxford Handbook in this field from a Birmingham academic is also on the way. R.S. Sugirtharajah, Emeritus Professor of Biblical Hermeneutics, has been editing the Oxford Handbook of Postcolonial Biblical Criticism over a number of years with chapters appearing online, and the release of the printed volume is scheduled for June 2023.

Other recent major volumes edited by Birmingham Theology academics include the T&T Clark Companion to the Dead Sea Scrolls, co-edited by Professor Charlotte Hempel, and the Routledge Handbook of Pentecostal Theology, edited by Professor Wolfgang Vondey.

These high-profile publications showcase the world-leading expertise of Birmingham’s Department of Theology and Religion, demonstrating its continuing excellence in multiple fields.

Professor Charlotte Hempel, Head of School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion

Birmingham’s Department of Theology and Religion was recently placed 32nd in the world in the this year’s QS World University Rankings.